Within the past several years the use of aluminum cans has greatly increased, particularly in the fields of canned soft drinks and beer. Needless to say, the employment of aluminum in the manufacture of these cans has met with considerable success and the employment of aluminum in the manufacture of the cans instead of the cans heretofore made of steel or like relatively stiff metal has enabled the manufacturer of the cans to provide an easy opening tab at one end thereof which may be easily manipulated to form an opening in the can. Also, for shipping purposes, an aluminum can is much lighter than a like can constructed of sheet steel or like metal. However, the employment of aluminum in the manufacture of the cans has increased the costs in the manufacture of such cans due to the higher costs of aluminum as compared to sheet steel or the like.
With the above in mind, it is one of the objects of the invention to provide a simple yet efficient device to automatically flatten a can and to direct such flattened can to a suitable receptacle where it may be retrieved and sent to a suitable plant or to the can manufacturer for recycling.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus to flatten cans wherein are employed suitable electrical switches and timing mechanisms to initially bend the can in half during one cycle of operation of the apparatus and in a second cycle of operation, the previously bent can is then flattened to thus reduce the size of the can thus enabling the flattened cans to be easily handled when shipped to a recycling center for recovery of the aluminum.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for flattening cans including a cabinet for the working parts of the apparatus and providing such cabinet with a removable lid which will permit for the operation of the components within the housing only when the lid is in proper position on the cabinet.
Another object of the invention is to provide a can flattener which will effectively flatten cans to a minimum volume, which will occupy a small amount of space in an establishment which can be operated safely by anyone and which is rugged and relatively low in cost to operate.
Another object of the invention is to provide a can flattener which will flatten cans one by one and deposit the flattened can into a suitable receptacle. The flattener is capable of flattening a single can or a multiplicity of cans and when all of the cans have been flattened, the flattener will stop automatically.
Another object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive aluminum can flattener which could be widely marketed and utilized by various business establishments as well as individuals to flatten cans for subsequent compact shipment to a recycling establishment for recovery of the aluminum.
Another object of the invention in accordance with the immediately preceding objects, is to provide a can flattener which may be of simple construction and easy to use so as to provide an apparatus that will be economically feasible, long lasting and relatively trouble free in operation.
Other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.